


Mayhem and Moonlight

by Lingeringchaos, Wayward_Enigma



Category: Original Work
Genre: Agent, Elf Culture & Customs, F/F, F/M, Fairies, Fairy, Gen, Griffin - Freeform, Human, M/M, Multi, Non-Human Humanoid Society, Other, Werewolf, spider - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2019-12-25 13:51:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18262604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lingeringchaos/pseuds/Lingeringchaos, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wayward_Enigma/pseuds/Wayward_Enigma
Summary: Rejected. Again and again, and so when he finally had a chance to get a job, he had to take it. So what if he learned about this job on a piece of paper at a bus stop in the middle of the night! What he wanted to be was a regular ol' cop. What he became was an Enforcer; a guardian, protector, and problem solver to everything that goes bump in the night and beyond. The problem? He's just some average human!





	1. Desperation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which you sometimes find a lucky break in strange places.

At what point was someone suppose to give up? Was it the tenth rejection? The twentieth? The hundredth? At this point, who knew. But it was a question that Kade Mitchell asked himself more and more with each passing day, and with every rejection letter from agencies and jobs alike. He was almost out of the money from his inheritance, given to him by his late father, Victor. These days it seemed all he had to his name were the clothes on his back, a few items in a tote box in the back seat, and the old beat up ford mustang that seemed only days away from either bursting into flames or simply expire altogether. This wasn’t how his life was supposed to go. He was supposed to be a cop by now, busting the bad guys and being a symbol of hope and justice. Not a wanderer in a rusted out car desperately going from town to town looking for odd jobs!

Today had been just another one in a long line of bad days. He’d applied at four different places in this damned city, and two of them rejected him without even looking at his resume. Then, his car had gotten towed, along with the persistent rain and wind, it made standing at the bus stop in a town he didn’t know absolutely miserable.

Kade gave a small shiver, the rain making his bright red hair that usually was fluffed up and curly stick to his face and head. He imagined he looked like a drowned poodle of some kind. Impatiently, Kade looked up and down the street, feeling like he’d been here for hours. Had he missed the last bus? Was this bus stop even an active one? As time passed, he got more and more concerned. This wasn’t exactly the greatest neighborhood. It was the sort of place, everything was in decay with shifty characters all around, the sort of place that you kept extra care of your wallet in.

After a few more long moments, Kade no longer found himself alone at this seemingly deserted bus stop. A tall African American man had taken up space next to him on the unsheltered bench. The man had thick, large black dreadlocks that were tied back in a bright red bow, along with a thick camo jacket on, and brown pants with rain boots. What seemed strange about the man was the fact he had the largest, thickest, darkest shades Kade had ever seen in his life. They wrapped all the way around his face, so you couldn’t see the man’s eyes even from the side. It wasn’t sunny, the clouds were thick and it was mildly dark. Kade wondered about the strange man with shades, it’s not like he had much else to do. His cell phone was dead, so he couldn’t even occupy himself with a friendly phone call to someone.

Kade’s absent-minded staring didn’t go unnoticed. The man tilted his head at him, staring down Kade for a moment before speaking, “I haven’t seen you around here kid. New here?”

Kade coughed awkwardly, shifting as he suddenly realized how much he had just been blatantly staring at the other man. Eventually, he worked up enough courage to reply, “Yeah. Only been here for a few days.”

“Everyone can find a place in this town kid. Don’t worry," the man gave him a friendly smile before standing up, the bus arrived moments later.

Kade jumped up to his feet quickly, he was thankful for this bus! As he took a step a piece of paper struck him in the face, carried on the wind. This caught Kade off guard, and he stumbled back a moment before grabbing the discarded paper, looking it over. Strangely, both sides were completely blank! With a huff of annoyance, Kade crumbled up the paper and tossed it over his shoulder, getting on the bus as he did so.

As the door to the bus doors shut, the same strange piece of paper was blown into the bus too. It rolled down the aisle until it came to rest at Kade’s feet. He looked down at it curiously, hadn’t he just thrown this away? With a sigh, he picked up the paper. He didn’t want to litter on the bus after all. Having little else to do, Kade decided to look over the strange paper once more.

As the ride continued in seemingly endless silence, Kade looking over the wrinkled paper, print started to slowly appear on it as it was basked in the low light of the moon. The rain had stopped, and the hour bus ride had been enough to ride out the storm. Kade looked over the flyer, it was promoting the annual Enforcer Exam. Kade was confused, he’d never heard of such a position before, but it sounded close enough to the criminal justice he’d spent his whole life studying. Besides, it wasn’t like he had much else going on. The full details of the exam, however, were rather vague. It mentioned a physical examination and a knowledge-based test, but not much more beyond that. To Kade, that seemed normal for an officer styled job.

He was more fascinated with the fact that the information had just appeared on this paper! He flipped the flyer over, and there were a few things written on the back.

_22nd Street Public Library._  
_Enforcer Exam Preparation Book._  
_Password: Hidden in Plain Sight_

The handwriting was sloppy and terrible, but luckily due to Kade’s own lack of penmanship, he could read them. He figured maybe this flyer had belonged to someone, but he figured, perhaps this was fate. He fell asleep on the bus.

Later that night he was awoken by the bus driver. “End of the line Kid. Get off my bus.”, the short and pudgy bus driver snapped at him. Kade sleepily sat up, rubbing his eyes. All the passengers on the once packed bus where gone, but so too was the strange and mysterious paper. Had it simply been a dream?

As Kade dragged himself off the bus he rubbed his eyes. Maybe it was a dream. But, something seemed to be pulling deep inside of him. Lime a gut instinct. Checking out the library tomorrow couldn’t hurt, would it?


	2. The 22nd Street Library

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a simple trip to the local library, right?

The following morning Kade got out of bed before his alarm even went off, kicking the worn and tattered sheets that had tangled around his legs to the floor. He was just so excited, this was his chance. The first good lead on a job that he’d had in his months of searching. Kade looked at himself in the cracked mirror of the motel that he was staying in, running his broken comb through his frizzy straw-colored hair. This motel was all he could afford with his dwindling supply of inheritance money. He turned on the water to the sink and was met quickly with rust scented brown and red water. He grimaced and turned it off quickly. A small gulp escaped him as he turned toward the shower, he prayed for fresher water as he turned it on, his morning only seemed to go downwards from there.

With a heavy sigh, he left the motel room after he managed to make himself somewhat presentable. Fumbling for a brief moment, before he was actually able to fish out the piece of paper from yesterday from the jeans he had tossed over the lampshade. Not that it seemed to matter much, both sides of the paper were blank again. Great. Kade just shrugged it off and walked down the street toward the 22nd Street Library, the entire time trying to remember the details. Had this paper even said anything yesterday? Or was this his final farewell to his sanity and this was the beginning of a delusional spiral? He sure hoped not.

After a missed bus ride, getting off at the wrong stop not once, but twice, and accidentally walking the wrong way over six blocks, he FINALLY found himself at the 22nd Street Library. It looked very average, a small library that looked like it used to be some sort of corner store. Its big windows were being washed by a particularly grumpy looking old janitor who glowered at him over his shaggy beard. Kade walked inside, stepping toward the checkout desk.

He was greeted by a tall woman with thick dark-framed glasses and dirty blonde colored hair that was tied back into the tightest bun he’d ever seen. Not even the sergeants from the police academy he had attended wore their hair so tightly. Her pantsuit was an off brown color with a pastel-colored undershirt. She seemed almost overdressed for just an average librarian.

“Welcome to the 22nd Street Public Library, how may I assist you today Sir?” she said as she turned to look over at him. She appeared to be sorting books for reshelving.

“Um,” Kade stammered for a moment, “Yes. I’m looking for the Enforcer’s Fieldbook?” Honestly, the whole situation seemed strange. He hoped she didn’t ask where he had heard about it, because explaining to someone that a piece of paper indicated him to come here (but that it only showed up in the moonlight) sounded crazy! He started to wonder if this was some sort of underground society, or maybe some sort of special forces? “It’s….ummm.. It’s probably hidden in plain sight?” Kade used the password the paper had instructed he use.

The librarian stared at him for a long moment, so long that Kade shifted awkwardly. Was she thinking about how crazy he sounded? Finally, she nodded, “Very well. Follow me,” she said and lead him toward the back of the furthest aisle. She opened the door labeled, ‘Employees Only’. She took him to a brick wall in the stock room of the library, standing in front of it as if it wasn’t just some sort of blank brick wall. She lifted her hand, drawing a strange symbol on the bricks. As she moved her hand, a soft pink flowing line followed her movements as if she had some sort of marker. There was a loud cracking sound, and slowly the bricks pushed out and moved to reveal a small hole in the wall, inside was a blue leather bound book. She reached in, taking the book out and handing it to him.

“Good luck on your exam. It will return itself when its job is done,” the blonde women told him. Kade looked down at the book, turning it over in his hands. It was a deep blue, like the sky just before night time, with small golden colored constellations over its cover. In bright gold letters, it was titled ‘Enforcer’s Handbook’. He looked up to thank the librarian, but she was gone!

He shuddered, suddenly finding himself in the backroom of the library. He quickly walked back out of the door he had come into to find the entire library was gone too! He wasn’t in the lobby of the library anymore but was in some sort of bicycle shop. The man behind the counter slammed his newspaper on the counter.

“Hey, kid! Stay outta the backroom! If ya’ want som’ sorta thing it’s out on da floor! Don’t you be stealing nothin’.”, he said as he started to come around the counter. Kade panicked and just ran out of the establishment.He made it outside, the street looked the same, but as he turned around he looked at the building. ‘Pete’s Bicycle Shop’, was written up in big bright red letters.

Kade just stared at the shop completely dumbfounded. What in the world was going on? He looked back down at the blue book in his hands, it was his only evidence about the library that seemingly had vanished.

Kade sighed and walked down the street. The book felt… warm? It was a strange sort of warmth, like how a reptile feels warm under its scale. It pulsed slowly, thumping in his hand a little as if it had a heartbeat. It was too weird, Kade decided and shoved it into his book bag as he made the long, and confusing walk back to the motel, he wasn't going to fight with the bus system and risk getting off at the wrong stop again.

After getting inside, ordering some cheap pizza and making sure the door was locked he sat down on the bed and opened up the book. On the very first it said ‘Property of Kade Mitchell’.

Kade slammed the book shut immediately. “T-That’s weird!”He rubbed his face. Was someone playing a prank on him? No. He didn’t know anyone in this city, and no one knew his name surely. So then, how did this book get his name?

He ran his finger over the leathery surface of the book. In response it glowed a little, slowly getting brighter until it basked the whole room in a gentle blue. He sighed, he knew he had to get through this book if he was going to take this mysterious test, he needed to study, but this whole thing was inexplicably strange. He silently wondered if he'd gone completely insane?

He flipped it open to the first chapter.

_Chapter One: The Enforcer’s Code._   
_The Silver Rule: An Enforcer enforces peace, above all else. To defend those who cannot defend themselves. Protecting not only the weak or the innocent but all in the eye of neutral law._

Kade proceeded to spend the entire night reading the book, there was nothing too out of the ordinary with it. It was just a full set of codes, conducts, crimes, punishments, and so on. It wasn’t too unlike the books he had read during his time studying at the academy. Sure, some of the punishments listed were a little odd, such as confiscating a warlock’s wand for ninety days or defanging a vampire for biting a mortal. Kade assumed these were code phrases. Perhaps confiscating a “wand” was like taking away a cop's firearm and defanging was maybe suspension? He really needed to find the index to translate these strange phrases.

Hours later he gave a long, slow yawn, leaning back into the chair he was sitting in. He stretched out enjoying the sunlight that streamed in through the cracks in the blinds. The book in his hands let out a loud snarl, snapping shut suddenly, and stopped glowing. Kade frowned and flipped through it, but all the pages were now completely blank.

“Maybe it’s a nocturnal book?”, he said softly, suddenly shutting up when he realized how stupid that sounded. It was a book! Books didn’t have preferences right? He sighed, maybe he was just going crazy. But he had this book, so everything had to be real right?

Throughout the day he tried again and again to read the book but found that it was always blank. So he simply finished off his cheap pizza from the night before and went to sleep. He awoke at dusk later that day.

After the sun went down, the book started to glow again, letting out a soft rumbling sound until Kade picked it up. He flipped to chapter three and froze.

_Chapter Three: Race Specific Tactics and Tricks_

And everything that followed seemed to be some wild trick. Vampires. Werewolves. Gargoyles. Gorgons. Mermaids. Goblins. And so many many more. It didn't seem to be code words or phrases at all. The book seemed to be taking itself entirely seriously. He to shut the book quickly, collecting himself for a moment. This had to be a joke. This couldn’t be real. Maybe he had taken something bad? When was the last time he had a cold? Was he in a coma in some dinky hospital after a car crash? His mind went wild with a mild panic attack. This couldn’t be real he told himself over and over again. Time and time again he peeked inside the book, only to find the words still there, and slowly it sank in. What if these were real? What if the creatures inside this book really did exist?

Kade thought about it for a long moment. Countries all over the world often claimed similar sorts of monsters in ancient times. So maybe this wasn't such a stretch? It was just, a lot to take in for him. However, the fact he needed this knowledge for this upcoming exam didn’t escape him.

Kade scratched his head for a moment. Someone must have put so much work into this fantasy novel. Or rather, perhaps encyclopedia to a fantasy novel seemed like a better word. It had long descriptions of each creature, including their habitats, behaviors, weaknesses, strengths, and a bunch of other stuff. Some of the photos looked too real for comfort. This- was this real or not? Every page made him question more and more. He was completely drawn in by the book, only stopping when it snapped shut on him once more when the morning light touched it.

He cried out sharply, pulling out his fingers from the book and shaking his hand. “Shit!” He winced at his semi-smashed fingers. Damn, that had hurt! He looked over at the clock, he had a few hours before this physical exam was supposed to start according to the original flier. Figuring he couldn’t study anymore, he took his glasses off and let the stiff and most likely gross bed take him off to sleep. It was best not to think about what had happened in this room before him.

After sleeping the day away he awoke just before 7 pm. The test started at 11 pm, and after looking at a map he realized that this physical test took place almost 30 miles outside of the city. It seemed strange, but somehow, given the book and everything else, he hardly knew why he even was surprised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updates every Wednesday!


	3. Who Sent You?!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Checking into the exam is it's own adventure!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Due to heavy course load issues, there will not be a chapter on April 17th. So there will be a double chapter release on April 24th :)
> 
> Thanks for understanding!

Kade awoke a little before his alarm clock. But instead of jumping out of bed, he just laid there, continuing to try to process the strangeness around him. He looked at the glowing book on the nightstand. He supposed it wasn’t a dream, and the world may not be what he always thought it was. His thoughts were interrupted by the jarring scream from the alarm. Reaching out to turn it off was almost enjoyable, he decided that maybe paying a dollar to get a better alarm tone on his phone wasn't such a bad idea. 

After getting ready, and grabbing the book he walked out the door. If this was a physical challenge, eating beforehand may not be such a great idea, especially if it was high intensity. Instead, a small double chocolate granola bar and apple juice would have to sate his hunger. He had only put his hand on the doorknob before he was interrupted by the desk attendant. 

“Wait! Mr.Mitchell!~”, she called for him. The small old lady behind the counter quickly got off her stool and walked over to him. She smiled up at him, her wrinkled face showing years of wisdom and full of kindness. Her pink shirt was hidden under the heavy shaw she had on. “Oh, goodie! The mechanic was able to fix that snapped belt in your car, it’s outside in the parking lot.” She said.

Kade silently thanked whatever god had spared him from enduring another ride on the buses. Honestly, he wasn’t even sure if the buses ran that far out into the middle of nowhere. She held out his key, still connected to a small plastic star that said ‘Jr. Deputy’ on it. Even if the letters were so faded on it, and one corner was missing. It was one of the only items he carried that held such sentimentality on it. Seeing it again brought a small smile to his face. “Thanks,” he said as he took the keys.

Walking outside was so uplifting. His old Mustang had been moved to a front parking spot after a test drive by the mechanic. Sure it was more rust than paint and had a dent in every side of it, but it was his. His father’s. He walked over, running a hand over the hood. “I missed you so much, Dutchess. Did you miss me?” Of course, the car did nothing in return. And Kade had half expected something. If the things in this book really were real, then, why couldn’t his precious car be happy to see him again? He wondered this as he got into it, and headed out on the road.

The half-hour drive to this location seemed to go by so fast with his music blaring. Such a luxury wasn’t allowed on public transportation, and he had forgotten how loud he liked to listen to music.

As he approached the spot, he turned off the GPS on his phone. He assumed it was the twenty cars parked out in the middle of this nowhere rocky semi-desert area. He just pulled his car up beside the nearest one, there didn’t appear to be any designated parking and no one else really seemed to. He noticed the group of people standing off to the side of the cars all had books like his own blue book. Each book seemed to be different colors, reds, greens, golds, purples, it seemed every color under the sun was represented here. 

Kade got out of the car, shutting the door. All the chatter around him stopped all of a sudden. It was almost eerie how all the talking had just stopped. He looked around, everyone was looking at him. He felt a ping of fear in his heart, why was everyone staring at him like he was a pariah or some beast?

Kade scratched the back of his neck, eyes darting to the ground, quickly shoving his hands into his pocket. This was so weird. Was he late or something? He checked his watch, no, it was only 10:50 pm, so why?!

He looked up to see the group parting, and a very large man walking toward him. Kade had to hold back a gasp, this man was easily the largest person he’d ever seen! He had to stand at seven feet tall, maybe taller, with the body build of a pro football player. One bicep might even by the size of Kade’s head. The man’s hair was dark brown with a military-style buzz cut. He had a symbol buzzed into the side of his hair. Kade realized it was the strange sign the lady at the library had made on the wall to get his book. Beyond his physical body, his clothes were all black, and very military looking complete with heavy boots. His dark caramel colored skin was covered in scars and burns. Completely with piercing dark brown eyes, so dark, they may as well be black. He looked like the big bad boss type villain in some hardcore fighting game or superhero comic. His shirt had the same symbol, with ‘instructor’ embroidered over the right breast pouch pocket.

“This is a private event. Who sent you?”, he said. The instructor's voice was just as deep and intimidating as one would expect. Kade felt a small shudder cross his body. He’s never been so intimidated by anyone before, and this guy looked mad too.

Kade only took a moment to recover, finding his inner strength. This guy wasn't so bad. He was just another big guy, just like back at the academy! “This is where the physical exam for the enforcers is, right?”

“Yes, it is. But you need a to have a recommendation from a current Enforcer. Who. Sent. You.”, the instructor said as he crossed his arms. 

Kade couldn’t help but frown. Well, no one had sent him, and the paper hadn’t mentioned a recommendation at all. His mind crossed to the women at the library, but he didn't know her name either. “My um... My book didn’t say anything about a recommendation.”

The instructor’s eyes narrowed at him. Kade was getting nervous again. “Book?! Listen, you had better cough up the name of who send you or hit the road runt.” His voice had no hint of kindness to it. If anything, it had an edge to it, a silent threat hanging between them. The crowd had moved in too, encircling them. 

Kade scratched his head. Not only did he fail spectacularly at getting hired at all his other interviews, this guy wasn’t even going to let him through the front door if he didn’t give some sort of recommendation. One that he didn’t have. The book and paper hadn't mentioned this at all! He looked around, did everyone else have a recommendation? Why was he the only one being openly asked like this? He gave a casual shrug, “Charlie did.”

The instructor seemed very unimpressed, “Charlie who.” He said completely deadpanned.

Kade realized he was stuck with this, so he just continued to roll with it. “You don’t know Charlie?” Kade said as he adjusted his glasses and made the best poker face he could, “Everyone’s heard of Charlie! Though only his friends get to call him that. He must have you just call him Charles.”

“Everyone’s got a last name runt.” The instructor said, his tone only continue to sharpen. He had some sort of angry vein that had appeared across his forehead. That surely couldn't be healthy.

Kade held his ground narrowing his eyes. He didn't like this at all. Maybe he should just leave, another failed job attempt. His stomach twisted at the thought. "I don't see you interrogating any of the other potential hires." He said, some part of him refusing to back down. "I'm new to the city, okay? I wasn't recommended by anyone here. Where I come from you just pick up the Enforcer's Fieldbook and appear for the physical exam." Kade said. It was probably mostly true. He came from a small town. "It's a small town where nothing ever happens and I'd be dealing with petty pranks and thefts." Kade thought to the book.

Of the details he read of all those mythical creatures. Well, why not reference them? "Do you know how boring it gets arresting pixies for turning iron into gold?" Kade sighed. "I wanted to come to the city where I thought I could do some real good. Make an actual difference. But I don't know anyone here. The only enforcer I know is from back home. Charlie Lannigan." Kade said. Chuck Lannigan was actually a retired cop who couldn't put down the badge. Instead of relaxing at home he came into the station part-time to help deal with petty small-town crimes. He was a sweet guy actually. He helped Kade study for his academy exams.

“Chuck Lannigan. Retired enforcer. Was that so fucking hard?” the instructor growled sharply, almost screaming, before turning and walking away. Truth was he had already asked everyone else, Kade just hadn’t been here for that part. And as a few more people showed up they were asked the same thing. Kade admittedly felt a little foolish after seeing others asked the same thing. 

Kade blinked in surprise. How the hell had that worked!? He stood away from everyone, his heart pounding. He’d never lied like this before. Sure he did a little when he was a kid, but he’d basically lied about a job! And tossed out the name of someone he hadn’t talked to in years! But he was in this deep now, and he just tried to calm himself before the real challenge began.


	4. A Slice of Hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who knew a physical exam could be so... physical!?

The instructor stepped out from the crowd, getting up on one of the rocks to make himself a little taller. Honestly, it wasn't like he needed it, even with several last moment arrivals, he was still the biggest guy Kade had ever seen in his entire life. 

“This course is designed to weed out you weaklings!” He said as he started his speech. His voice boomed over the crowd and everyone fell silent, all eyes were on the instructor.

“Hello. I am Commander Ivan Corvall Toro. I won’t piss around with why we’re all here. This IS a full contact physical challenge. Anything goes. Do not take this lightly, last year we had seventeen deaths in the course.” He eyed the crowd, some grimaced, “personally I’m an overachiever and expect twenty this time around. After the course has been resurrected, you may use whatever your god given abilities are.” He looked right at Kade, “or whatever you lack.”

Kade swallowed hard. Seventeen deaths!?

As Commander Toro spoke teal colored orbs appeared in the distance. Bright white lights shot straight into the sky as the orbs slowly turned around until the beams moved into each other, rounding out and becoming a massive dome the size of a football stadium. It was absolutely massive, breathtaking against the dark desert night surrounding it. The ground rumbled under their feet as objects began to appear within the dome, a miniature jungle, a lava river, a regular river, a blizzard-ish stretch with sharp winds swirling like a tornado, and another desert area that was brightly lit like daylight. All within the dome, as if it had taken slices of the harshest places in the world and smashed them together. When it was done, it was as if an entire world was trapped within the light walls, and with a sharp flicker, it all vanished, encasing itself in camouflage.

Commander Toro stepped away and began to walk toward where the dome was hidden. Everyone followed him. 

“You’ll start in the lava fields, going across the river you’ll have to use your wits and agility to avoid burning to death. After that you need to hike across the ice field with temperatures well below zero, I recommend getting through this one as quick as you can if you like your fingers. After that, you’ll climb up into the trees and use anything you can to get across, swing on vines, jump from tree to tree. Do be careful many poisonous and ravenous bugs are inside it. Then, there is the desert, not unlike where we are. This one has Camel-Eating Scorpions in it, you can either sneak past them, run, or try to fight them off. After that, all you have to do is swim across the rapids and hit the finish line!” He explained it. 

He talked so fast Kade wasn’t sure if it was even worth trying to memorize it. It seemed like a straight enough shot, except for all the potential death. He wasn’t sure what a Camel-Eating Scorpion was but it seemed very unpleasant to try to fight. Looking around, everyone looked human too, but, they weren’t if he were to believe his book, right? That was his thought as they passed through the edge of the dome. And boy, had he been wrong.

All around him were creatures he’s never seen before in his entire life! He wasn’t surrounded by people anymore, he was surrounded by monsters! To his left was a huge man; his ears very tiny with a large underbite, skin tinted slightly of grey with eyes that were almost a deep black, a mountain orc, his mind supplied. Reading about those not so fairytale creatures from the book was now a saving grace. Behind Kade was a man with fangs as white as a moon, ears pointed, his skin flawless and a lifeless pale color, a vampire. To his right was an elf, up ahead was a Gorgon whose top half was a man and bottom a snake, and there were beasts too. A chimera to his far right, a large Pegasus to his far left. All lined up, and Kade realized, this wasn’t a joke. The moonlight parted through the heavy clouds basking then all in a silvery blue light.

Kade swallowed hard, his mouth feeling dry. The book was real. These mythical creatures existed. They were right in front of him. And he was competing against them for a job. In a physical test that could injure him. He pinched his arm just to be certain he wasn't dreaming. No such luck. Well, there was only one thing to do then: Do the obstacle course and hope no one got hungry for human flesh. He hoped that he'd make it out of here alive. It was like a fever dream, but this was really real! He tried to keep his panic to a minimum, they probably could smell fear.

“Let’s get ready!” Commander Toro yelled up ahead raising his hand. Even he was changed, and somehow he had gotten even bigger! Before the group was a minotaur, his horns were ivory colored white, his nose a dark brown and the fur on his body a blackish color, yet the top of his head somehow retained his military-style haircut. Toro let his hand fall, and all hell broke loose.

Everyone around him surged forward, the sound of claws and shoes on the graveled ground as they all rushed. The sound of beating wings reverberated in Kade’s ears as several beings took flight. Kade saw what looked like a winged demon, a few harpies, as well as a small wyvern dragon all taking flight at once. That was until a massive Minokawa spread its wings. The wingspan along of this creature had to be at least forty feet, and the downdraft it created at taking off knocked Kade completely off his feet! He slammed face first into the pavement as the winged creature took flight. The Minokawa’s features were a breathtaking milky white color with accents of gold, along with a long dragon-like neck. It was easily the largest creature in the sky, and with a single flap of its large wings, it completely knocked everything else out of the sky. The harpies, the demon, all of them crashed to the ground as the Minokawa flew past. Toro had clearly said this was a contact sport. Kade also realized he hadn’t even made an attempt to get up, he had just been so awestruck by the flying creatures. Everyone around him was already gone, he was falling behind!

Kade scrambled up to his feet and ran forward. He climbed over the first hill and had to pause. There was a downslope that leads right into a pit of lava and magma. Massive chunks of rock floated on it luckily, and several creatures were still trying to hop across the floating stone pieces. However, there was hardly anyone left trying this, which mean the other seven-eighths of everyone must have moved on. Cursing under his breath Kade slide down the rock wall, the stones snagging his boots as he slid, but he was grateful since it gave him traction. It would really suck to fall into lava, he thought to himself. 

Just as he got to the edge, a gigantic mass erupted up from the lava, a humanoid-like being made of blistering lava and chunks of stone. It was a Cherufe! He’d read about it last night, and boy it looked so much worse in person. This was at least a creature Kade had seen during his review of the book. Unfortunately, he distinctly remembered reading the only way to satisfy a Cherufe was to satisfy its craving of human flesh. This was just a terrible time to be made of human flesh as it turned on him immediately.

“Y-you wouldn’t mind just not e-e-eating me right?” Kade asked, flashing his least terrified smile he could muster. The Cherufe responded by roaring at him and charging straight for him. The beast didn’t care about anything else, sending the floating rock pieces flying everywhere, even sending other competitors flying as well! 

“OF COURSE NOT!!” Kade said as he ran along the edge of the lava pit with the monster having to constantly change its charging direction. It was about a third the size of the pool itself, so it actually seemed to be having a hard time changing directions to chase the agile human. Kade used that to his advantage, running like he never had before. Fear was a great motivator. 

He circled around the pit, scrambling up the opposite rock wall as fast as he could with the Cherufe still trying to turn enough to grab him. He could feel the heat as it reached for him and he threw himself across the edge of the rock wall, rolling forward into the snow on the other side. He didn’t realize he had burns on his exposed arms, or holes from the popping heat until he could lay in the snow for a moment. He felt sick instantly, going from heat so hot he was sweating to frigid air so cold his body couldn’t shiver hard enough. He did what he had to, tracking through the snow the best he could.

He kept moving, the winds felt like knives cutting into him as he continued on walking. Aside from the frigid cold and wailing gales, it wasn’t as bad. Then again, maybe anything that wasn’t a giant lava monster was a blessing. Next was the forest of trees, and then the something-eating scorpions. Just great. 

“Where was the warning about the Cherfue, Mr. Toro?!” Kade yelled into the wind. Surprisingly, he kept coming across creatures only a few hundred feet into the area. Reptile-like creatures were retreating, going back to the lava area. Passing this test wasn’t worth their lives, and it seemed a fair enough point. Sure this really sucked for Kade too, but his body had at least a bit of its own heat. He passed several of the reptiles, trudging through the snow relentlessly. After the cold area, Kade climbed over a slippery and icy rock wall, sliding twice as he climbed into the jungle-forest. Almost immediately he was hit by the high humidity and tropical heat. He wondered how many reptiles would have kept going if they knew this was on the other side?

Kade was still toward the back of the pack, in the end, he was only a human. He told himself that wouldn’t stop him! He could do this, he used to love climbing trees when he was a kid. So, he started to climb using one of the vines that hung low enough for him to grab. It swayed an unnerving amount but held his weight well enough. “Just don’t look down,” he told himself over and over, “and watch out for bugs.” He hopped from branch to branch, using the vines to steady himself, and several times he almost didn’t make the jump. But, he’d yet to fall to his death, so he just told himself this was going well.

“H-help!” Cried out someone in the distance. Kade looked down to see a tall, slender, silver-haired elf tangled up a few branches below him, far above the ground. The elf had fallen when one of the branches had broken, his arm was bent at an unnatural angle. He was hanging by his good arm, but that was about it. He had tried to tangle his legs in the vines around him just so he wouldn’t die. But Kade saw his issue, climbing toward him was a spider, and not a tiny one either. This one was easily the size of a large dog. Now, Kade wasn’t afraid of bugs, but, THIS was more than a little spider in the bathroom.

Kade looked ahead, he could see a few others also tangled up, or dangling on the vines. This could be his chance to move up in the takings a little. But another scared cry from the elf made him look down. To help him would mean Kade would do even worse than he already was, assuming he could finish it at all at this point. They were about halfway across and it was really pulling at his endurance. He was exhausted, burnt, freezing, and overheated. He felt like his body was just going to quit at any moment. This wasn’t an obstacle course, it was a slice of hell. 

“Hold on,” he said as he decided he couldn’t leave the elf to the giant spider. He could always just retake an exam, but, to turn his back on someone would haunt him for the rest of his life. Kade cursed. No job was worth someone's well being. Even if he was a bit of an overachiever he couldn't let the elf fall or get eaten, even if he failed. Kade took his boot off and hurled it at the spider, smacking it right in the face. It let out a loud screeching sound and turned on him. Climbing up quickly using the vines. Kade cursed as he realized that he had no plan!

So, Kade just scrambled up the tree and quickly ran along the branches and trees. The spider was right behind him, some sort of black substance dripping from its fangs. The spider itself was a bright red color with stripes that almost looked like the ones you’d see on a tiger. And if it wasn’t chasing him down to kill him, Kade would have loved to admire the beauty of it.

Every time he made a leap, a jump, or climbed it seemed the spider was only a heartbeat behind him. It’s slender legs finding the pursuit easy to keep up with despite Kade’s best efforts. 

Kade jumped onto one last branch and his heart instantly sank as it snapped under his weight immediately. He screamed as he fell down the tree, desperately trying to grab the branches that flew past him in his descent. The spider had stopped chasing him for a moment to watch him fall. He was saved when a jagged branch caught the back of his shift leaving him hanging by the fabric. Which would have been comforting except the spider had set up some threads and was now lowering itself at him. Was thing really the end? To fall to his death or to be eaten alive by this tiger spider?!

He looked up, watching the spider get closer, his heart thumping so loudly he couldn’t hear anything except it and his own panicked breathing. 

“Close your eyes!” The elf yelled at him. Kade looked over at the elf, he’d almost completely forgotten about him. The elf had gotten himself into a seated position on one of the branches. In his hands was a bow made of some sort of ancient wood, black and red runes were carved into it. It was an off milky color with hints of chestnut along the edges with the string of the bow made of glowing, solidified bright green magic. Drawn back into the bow was a green arrow made of seemingly the same sort of green magic. The top of the arrow was glowing so brightly he couldn’t actually see the head of it at all. 

Kade covered his face as the elf let loose the air. It flew through their air with such force it let out a screeching sound that sounded like a hawk as it struck the tree between the spider and Kade. The entire area was instantly blinded by a flash of white light. Such a white that all other color was completely non-existent, glowing so brightly that white didn’t do it justice. The spider screamed loudly as it was completely blinded. Kade had his face covered but the massive crashing sound beside him told him the spider had fallen, and the following crashes below him told him the spider was still falling down.

He didn’t uncover his face until the sounds had stopped completely. Kade slowly looked down, he could see several branches below him snapped and broken, and at the bottom of the forest floor he could make out the red spider, unmoving. All he could do was stare at it for a few moments as his heart rate returned to a more normal range. 

After a few long minutes of struggling, Kade managed to climb up onto the branch that had saved his life and made his way back to the elf. Kade hung down from an upper branch before holding out his hand to the elf. "Grab on! I got you. I won't let you fall! I can’t thank you enough for that."

The elf grabbed on, looking up and him he froze for a moment. His whole face sort of went white as a sheet as he stared up at Kade it utter disbelief. As he was pulled up, he quickly grabbed onto the branch and pulled himself up the rest of the way. “Y-you’re a human!?” He said in utter shock. He’d been saved by a human.

"Yeah? Are you okay? Your arm looks pretty bad. But that was a killer shot event with it!” Kade said impressed. He was sure he couldn’t shoot a target six feet away, but the elf had made that shot from several hundred yards out. He wasn’t sure if had actually wanted to hit the spider, but either way, it had been so cool to see the magical bow in action. The bow itself had turned back into a normal looking four-inch long stick that the Elf had clipped to his belt.

“I...”, he sighed heavily. “I’m fine human.” He grumbled, his amber eyes darting away from Kade. This was so embarrassing! To be saved by a human! He would never live this down! He was already the embarrassment of his family, wanting to be an enforcer and not work in the family botany business, this would just add to his ever-expanding list of disappointments.

Kade nodded and started to run back on the course, he'd never finish in time but he might as well put the effort in any way. He had no idea how much time was even left.

The elf tried, but the damage to his arm left him unable to hold reliably onto the vines. For him, the exam ended on a broken arm. He’d have to try again later, this was his 5th time trying the Enforcer exam, and this was yet another failure.

"That's it! Times up!" Commander Toro’s voice called from seemingly everywhere. It carried its normal weight of being absolutely intimidating. It was heartbreaking, Kade had so much of the obstacle course left! The ground rumbled as the obstacles began to descend back into the sand. The lava, the storm, the trees, it all faded around them until the entire group was just standing within the dome. The dome itself was starting to disintegrate too. Kade silently wondered how many lives had been claimed this time by the obstacle course? At least his and the elf weren’t one of them.

Kade sighed, he hadn't made it. But at least he hadn't left the elf to die like so many others. He could feel good about that If nothing else. Maybe he could ace the written exam and be saved...right?


	5. Slive and Lily

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which kindness is repaid and new friends are had

The elf sighed heavily, holding his arm and just thinking about how badly he had messed up the physical part of the exam. They were surrounded by creatures and monsters, it seemed not many actually finished the course at all. In the far distance shaking hands and talking with Toro appeared to be those who finished. Approximately ten of them, including the Minowaka that had knocked all the airborne competitors out of the sky at the beginning of the course. That being said, there were several motionless bodies scattered about. Some were torn apart, some had clear signs of poisoning, and a few seemed to have been the poor souls who fell in the lava earlier. Admittedly, Kade felt a ping of guilt, that lava beast had charged him at him, and these individuals had suffered because of it. Kade shifted, his stomach twisting at the thought.

Why was no one reacting? People, well, monsters had died. They were people still, weren't they? Kade supposed they knew what they were getting into, but still. He knew an enforcer’s job was dangerous, but to think the very test to become one was truly deadly and took lives every test was disturbing. 

The elf frowned at Kade, admittedly he felt a little bad as well. Kade had given up his chance to finish the course to save him. After a moment of thought, the elf walked over to Kade. Commander Toro was approaching the center of the group, an Arachne female walked beside him. Her top half was an admittedly attractive woman, her skin a soft white color with a slight tan to it. Her hair was golden yellow and black toward the bottom, and long, flowing around her. Her eyes were completely black without any whites around the pupil, all four of them. Just solid black. That wasn’t eerie at all, Kade thought dryly. Her spider half appeared to be an eight spotted crab spider, such a rich exotic shade of yellow. She had a jacket on with the same crest as Commander Toro, she was an instructor.

“If you didn’t make it you may still make it if you score well on your written exam!” said the arachnid next to Commander Toro.

Kade brightened on that. If there was one thing Kade was good at, it was studying.

“You don’t always have to baby them Charlette,” Toro grumbled loudly at her. She rolled her eyes at him, crossing her arms in annoyance. 

“You don’t need to grind them so hard Ivan.” The two locked eyes and bickered back and forth. They either fought like best friends or an old married couple.

 

“I am sorry human,” the elf said as Kade blinked for a moment, looking away from the minotaur and Arachne. 

"It's okay," Kade said with a shrug. "I wasn't gonna let you die. It's just an exam." His eyes lingered as he watched the fallen participants be taken away by masked creatures. They wore black, their masks white and blank except for eyeholes. A heavy hood hid any reactions behind the mask, and most hobbled around with hunches. It was very unnerving and Kade couldn’t look at them, they just filled him with dread and a foreboding feeling that he couldn’t quite explain.

In the moonlight, the fleshy tone faded from the elf as his real form was easier to see. He was tall, easily 6 and a half foot tall, his limbs long and thin, almost bird-like because of how slender they were. His nose was smaller, and flat on the bridge instead of curved like a human's, along with long pointed ears, his flesh was a gentle grey and blue tone. White runes were tattooed over his arms, neck, and what parts of his chest Kade could see in his deep v-necked green tunic. The elf’s hair was long too as evidenced when he removed the bun from his hair and it flowed down around him past his hips. His hair was even longer than the spider women with a brilliant silver hue.

“I am Slive, I’m a Western Elf,” the elf explained, “I’ve never seen a human before, this is truly interesting. I do apologize for my earlier behavior humans just… are not really a welcome sight in the Western Foothills.” He said as he forced a slightly awkward smile.

Kade gave a nervous smile in return, trying to remember what he read about the western elves. The book had held a lot of information, and he had not been able to cover much of it yet. What he did know was that the Western Foothills was an area where humans were forbidden from entering, often killed on sight if they enter the area. 

"It’s nice to meet you Slive. My name is Kade. I'm new to the city." Kade said not wanting to admit that this morning if someone had told him he'd be competing with real monsters and fairytale creatures he'd have sent them to a doctor to get checked out.

Slive looked at Kade for a long moment before speaking up, “I heard Chuck Lannigan recommended you.” He paused before his eyes glistened with excitement, ”That’s so cool! He’s one of the most famous enforcers currently active! I’ve read all his books but I can’t believe you actually met him!” Slive’s excitement was almost palpable in the air. 

“What’s he like in real life? I’ve never gotten to meet him before, but, golly I wish I had!” He had completely thrown his apprehension toward the human out the window. It seemed monsters had emotions too. Such a strange concept since many of them fed off humans as humans feed off pigs and cows.

Kade smiled. "H-He's a really nice guy. He always had time to help anyone who needed it, he helped me study for my exam too. I had no idea he had published books or anything, he just seemed like a regular guy."

“Oh... umm... I guess maybe humans don’t know much about him?” Slive said as he and Kade walked back to their vehicles. Kade put a hand on his car and curiously looked over his shoulder to see what sort of vehicle Slive drove. What did elves drive? A Prius? Trucks? Race Cars?

Kade’s jaw dropped open. Slive had a griffin with a saddlebag. The large bird-like creature was pawing at a scorpion. She was a Western Short-Feathered Griffin. The griffin’s feathers and fur where a deep brown color like bark or fallen leaves. It had smaller wings then a regular Griffin to help it fly through the forest of the foothills and nearby mountain ranges, but large enough to still fly. The saddlebag looked hand made and had several markings on it that matched Slive’s tattoos. Then again, Slive’s moccasins looked handmade too.

“No! Lily not again!” Slive shooed her away. Lily the Griffin hissed loudly and puffed out her chest in annoyance as the scorpion she was playing with scurried off into the sand Slive just walked past her, patting her wing lightly, stopping to dig into the saddlebag. 

Slive pulled out a hard covered book. “This is the one about him cleaning out a huge vampire coven that was farming humans. It takes place in some backwater town I think, somewhere really remote from how he described it.” He handed the book to Kade. “It’s his most recent published work.”

Kade couldn’t stop staring at the Griffin in wonder. He wanted to ride it. Kade hummed, taking the book, looking down at it for a moment. "Thanks!" He would definitely read it. It seemed so strange that nice old Chuck was out there cleaning out vampire nests. Vampires farming humans, huh? Kade suppressed a shudder.

The Griffin looked at Kade curiously as well. The two just staring at each other as Lily walked over to Kade. She sniffed at him before snipping and pulling at his red hair. Slive looked horrified and quickly shooed her head away from Kade’s. “Sorry she’s never seen red hair before,” he tried to explain quickly.

"It's okay I've never seen a real Griffin before so we're even!" Kade laughed softly and reached up hesitantly petting her.

The moment Kade touched her feathers, Lily screeched loudly and bit him, her sharp beak slicing into the back of his hand. “She doesn’t like ummm... strangers.” Slive frowned.

Kade hissed pulling his hand back and shaking it. It wasn’t a very deep bite, superficial, it just stung. "It's okay," Kade said. He should know better than to pet mythical creatures. A good rule of thumb. Especially such a proud and self-confident creature like a griffin. Had children stories taught him nothing? 

Lily just snorted at Kade and trotted away, sniffing the ground as she walked around. Slive walked after her, patted her shoulder before hopping up onto her bareback in a single graceful leap. “The book will return itself when you’re done it has a returning enchantment, so please feel free to borrow it,” Slive told Kade.

"That's so cool," Kade said. "Like the codex," Kade said out loud. The codex would supposedly return itself to the library when he was done with it. Kade didn’t think he was ever going to be done with it, it was so huge and only available at night. It was such a grumpy thing. It was gonna take some getting used to, magic. He still was questioning whether he had been drugged on the bus and was hallucinating this entire thing.

Around them, most of the others had left. Some drove, some simply ran off into the desert or vanished by some form of another. Lily stomped loudly on the ground, getting antsy and wanting to return home before the dawn. “Goodbye, human Kade!” Slive said as he tapped Lily’s side with his foot. Lily took off running, and in a few beats of her wings, she was airborne. The two soared away, disappearing into the night sky as Kade watched in astonishment.

"Bye..." Kade said softly to the air. This whole entire thing didn't feel real. He took a deep breath. Well, he could still pass if he passed the written exam, so he decided he better get home and study.

The only ones really left were a few stragglers and the two instructors. Charlotte was laughing loudly while Toro looked angrier and angrier, his arms crossed and tapping his hoof repeatedly against the dirt.

Kade glanced at them. He couldn't believe there was an Arachne in front of him. Not to mention an angry Minotaur. Perhaps he better get out of here before they realized he was human too.

Kade hopped into his car, started the engine, and quickly pulled out. In the rearview mirror, he could still make their shapes out. As he blasted the radio, getting a face full of night air he was still in disbelief. He kept looping a singer though one of the holes in his shirt just to remind himself that this was real. It was all still real.

***

Over the next week, Kade spent every waking moment he could studying, of course only at night since his book was picky! During the day he looked around for any hints of the mythical beings, but he never saw anyone or anything out of order. It was like enforcers and mythical creatures and monsters were just that, mythical. There was no evidence that any other intelligent creatures shared the planet with humans. Kade had even driven back to that spot in the desert to find it completely empty and abandoned. 

It seemed more and more like the night had been a dream. Kade’s only reminder being the book Slive let him borrow, and the codex he studied every night. He decided that mythical creatures capable of magic must have perfected hiding in plain sight. This skill must include hiding their libraries since the 22nd street library was still nowhere to be found, just Pete’s Bicycle Shop and unappreciative Pete who was suspicious of Kade snooping around his shop all the time.

But to not see even a sliver of their existence in his day to day life was a little disheartening. He wanted to talk to them, the creatures in his book. He had so many questions. How long did faeries live? Were there vampires around who had seen major events in history? Did silver really burn Werewolves? What did giants eat? Did they have giant food? Where did they hide it? Why did leprechauns like gold so much, and why did the Tuatha de Danann go underground? Why were humans the dominant species in the world when there were clearly stronger and more clever races? He wanted to know.

The book Slive had let him borrow was a very gripping one, and it was hard to think that this almost Indiana Jones inspired adventurer who could take out entire vampire nests and werewolf dens by himself was the same old laid back calm and the almost lazy old man he had met at the police station.

The more Kade read the book, the more uneasy he began to feel. This book was just of Chuck Lannigan’s latest adventure, uncovering and wiping out a vampire’s nest, yet Kade found himself feeling more and more uneasy.   
Chuck never named the small town he went out to, but landmarks started being described that Kade recognized. The small town enclosed by a deep forest, The dead willow tree outside the police station, The missing high school teenagers, one by one disappearing? All of this sounded very familiar. It reminded Kade of his own town. But the missing kids were thought to have run away. But Mrs.Jackson in Chuck’s book reminded Kade an awful lot of Mrs.Gibson from his own home town, the one who made those terrible, terrible gooey brownies, and who had been found dead in the woods by a random bear attack. But in Chuck’s book, Mrs. Jackson had been drained of all her blood and bitten by multiple vampires. It was too close, too similar. This couldn't be a coincidence, Kade was starting to realize.

Chuck had been in Kade’s hometown, but not because he was retired. He had been investigating a vampire nest. The people who went missing in Kade’s town were eaten. Chuck’s book confirmed it. People Kade knew were drained dry by a nest of vampires. Kade could have easily been one of them! Kade was going to be sick. His stomach twisted painfully, and he gagged. 

Vampires, at home? This was- it was insane. 

Kade laid on his bed, having finished the borrowed book for the fourth time. He sighed softly, running his fingers over its cover one last time. “So... I guess you can go back to Slive?” He said, trying desperately not to think about the fact he was talking a book. The book shook in his hands and he put it down quickly. The book slowly levitated, glowing lightly before it dematerialized piece by piece until it had completely vanished. He had just stared at it in shocked awe, magic was truly a marvelous thing.


	6. Sweets and Cats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kade finally finds himself in the land of monsters, and suddenly he founds himself the odd man out. And also, there's a cat.

Finally. It was here. The day of Kade’s written exam. His nerves hadn’t settled since the moment he awoke, and now he was just flipping through the TV for the millionth time to try and kill time. Beside him, the field guide glowed brightly. It was time. He flipped the television off and grabbed the book, heading outside quickly. As he walked he looked the book over curiously. It was glowing much brighter than it ever had before.

Kade hummed softly, giving it an experimental poke. He wasn't sure what the bright glowing could mean, but he was sure it had something magical to show him.

The book hissed at him, and startled, he dropped it to the ground. The book bounced before it came to settle. The cover flew open and it flipping open to the very last page where a map of the city was. Kade suddenly realized he hadn’t been told where the written exam was. There seemed to be a lot of that in this whole situation, leaving Kade to do a lot of leg work and figure out where he needed to go. Not to mention vanishing libraries. 

Kade cursed softly and looked at the map that was displayed to him, looking to see if anything marked where the test was being held. The address that was highlighted seemed strange. 870012-B West Hypross Lane. But there wasn’t a street in the city that he knew of with that name. Kade pulled out his phone and typed the address into google maps, and nothing showed up. Did you mean 21 Hyperion Street? Thanks, Google. It was no help at all.

The book pulsed softly. An arrow appearing above the book, it was like smoke, and it pointed to the south. The arrow was only partially opaque, a faded blue color like the sky before sunset.

"Oh!" Kade said looking around. The people walked past him, not seeming to see the giant arrow above the book. Kade hummed in thought, following where the arrow leads. He’d already ran from a lava monster, fought a giant spider, and got bitten by a griffin, so why not follow a mysterious arrow that popped out of a glowing book? Hell, this was the least dangerous thing to happen so far.

The arrow leads him further and further into the ‘bad’ part of town. Dangerous. Houses in decay, broken street lights, and unsavory characters everywhere. As he walked, he moved his wallet and keys to the inside of his jacket and zipped it up. With as late as it was, he was really hoping he wouldn’t simply be attacked. Of course, the exam had to be at night. Kade didn’t belong in this part of town, and he stuck out just as much as his glowing book. Hesitantly, he picked up his pace as he walked through the streets. Finally, the arrow shifted again, it leads him to an empty lot. 

The lot was between two large buildings. One building seemed to be an old deli that was out of business and the other was an apartment building that was consumed with boarded-up windows and large red eviction signs on each door. He frowned at the empty lot. Now, this didn't seem right.

Kade took a slow step onto the lot. As he did so, the book stopped glowing. Slowly Kade continued on, walking across the lot. He realized the air around him was rippling and glowing, almost like the ground does in the distance on a hot day. He took another step, but there was no ground under him anymore.

 

Then suddenly he was free falling! Kade continued to fall for what seemed like forever before he finally landed in a large dumpster in an alleyway. Great. Now he’d attend his exam smelling like garbage. He groaned loudly, thankful he hadn’t landed on anything hard or sharp, but concerned about what he did land on. He pushed the thought from his mind as he scrambled out of the dumpster. The book had landed on top of an old towel on the ground. He really hoped it wasn’t damaged as he picked it up.

Kade peeked out of the alleyway and looked around. He found he was surrounded by brightly lit colorful shops. The buildings sort of leaned one way or the other in whimsical shapes that would make any architect have a heart attack. Book stores, cafes, shoe shops, clothing stores, butcher shops. There was a bakery directly across from the alleyway called ‘Just a Bite’. It looked like a scene from some child’s bedtime story, complete with monsters walking up and down the street everywhere.

Kade blinked in surprise. He may never get used to the magic that was all around him until recently, it'd been completely hidden. He wondered how much he'd passed by not noticing before finding that piece of paper which lead him to the book?

All around him the monsters began to stop, everyone was staring at the human who was standing in the alleyway.

Kade frowned and pretended not to notice, instead of looking at his book. Now, what was the place called, that he was looking for? He shook the book a little, but it didn’t glow. Great. His GPS was not doing its job! What now!? He flipped through the pages frantically as the monsters started to circle around him.

The book’s pages were completely blank. Very helpful. Kade sighed loudly and looked up to realize that the staring hadn’t stopped, now he was starting to gather a small crowd. And the alley he came from looked just like any other alley. Around him, the monsters began to give a choir of panicked whispering. Sure this side of town wasn’t fancy but it surely didn’t have a human infestation did it!?

Kade shifted uncomfortably. He figured, judging by Slive's reactions, normal humans must be rare among the supernatural beings, but he didn't think they were this rare.

There was a large crowd forming now, all looking at Kade, some pointing and whispering. Kade frowned and shifted, averting his eyes. It would probably be best if he found somewhere for directions or just got off the street. Anything to shy away from the curious, scrutinizing and even contemptuous looks he was getting. The small cafe across the street was seemed empty, only two people were looking out the window at the crowd forming.

~~~~  
“What do you think it is Alistair?” Asked the barista, she was dressed in a cute maid outfit, her features were small as she was a nine-tailed fox demon. Her hair was a white-lavender color and her skin was a peachy pale, with eyes being rather large and violet. Beside her stood the shop owner Alistair. A once noble vampire. He was tall, handsome, and slender with sharp eyes and fangs. His hair was a bit shaggy, pulled back into a messy bun. He wore a nice salmon-colored striped top and black pants with dress shoes. His apron was covered in flower and red colored something. “I’m not sure Yuki,” he told his small employee.

Alistair watched curiously as the human walked across the street and headed right for the shop. “Oh today will be interesting,” he mused to himself. Kade ran into the bakery and with all the dignity of a man he hid behind one of the flower displays to avoid the crowd’s eyes. He peeked at Yuki and Alistair curiously. He hoped he wouldn’t have to buy something in exchange for using the flower display to hide behind; he was broke.

Yuki scrambled away from the window as Kade came in, tripping over a stool and table and sending all the contents flying. Alistair just chuckled softly at her, “Graceful as always Yuki,” he said as he snapped his fingers. The open sign to the cage flipped to closed. He knelt down and started to pick up the silverware and empty cups Yuki had knocked over. Kade grimaced, giving Yuki an apologetic look. 

“Well, well. What’s a tasty little Morsel like you doing over here on Grimm Street?” Alistair asked as he walked over to Kade. In the light, his pearly white fangs stood out against his gorgeous face. Of course, he was handsome, his body was meant to draw in humans.

Kade flushed and tried not to stare into Alistair's perfect eyes or notice his alluring accent, beautiful angel face, or the abs just visible through the thin cloth of his shirt. Seriously, how could a man possibly be this beautiful!? "I'm, uh, I'm looking to take my enforcer exam."

Alistair watched Kade for a moment before he walked behind the counter and started to move some of the pastries around. Yuki peeked her head out from behind the counter. “Enforcer exam?” she said with wide eyes. 

Alistair gave a small chuckle, “Oh. You are interesting, aren't you? A human. An Enforcer exam attendee? So fascinating.” He said as he took a bite out of a jelly-filled little cake. A little bit of red liquid squished out and ran down the side of his face. Kade had the strangest urge to lick it off him and shuddered to glance away. What was wrong with him!?

Yuki nodded, “You have to go to Hypross Lane for all that official business stuff. But you’re on the wrong side of town for all that.” She said with a small frown. 

“Maybe he can talk Elymas into a teleportation spell.” Said a man who walked out of the back room. A cook it looked like. He was a large man, broad shoulders with tattoos all over his arms and half his face. An orc, like the ones at the physical exam, but this one was much smaller. His skin was also a grey-blue color rather than the green colored ones. 

“Oh, that’s a good idea!” Yuki said she looked at Kade. “Two doors down is a gentlemen’s club. You can usually find a black cat being thrown out, his name is Elymas. He’s a warlock.”

Kade blinked in surprise. So to get to where he needed to go, he was looking for a black cat. Okay, not the weirdest thing he had to do since trying to become an enforcer. Still flustered, he pointedly tried not to look at Alistair. "Alright, thank you! I'll look for this Elymas!"

“Good luck small human,” the orc said. Yuki leaned on her elbow as Kade walked out, “That little guy is going to die, isn’t he Boss?” She said. 

“Probably,” Alistair said with a sigh, taking another bite of the pastry and wiping his mouth.

Kade made his way over towards the gentlemen’s club. The building was large with booming loud, if not exotic music coming from inside, sparks of purple, magenta, and blue coming from the doors. It rhythmically puffed out of the doors along with the beat of the song. The outside looked rather plain, almost boring. A black building with blacked out windows. The colorful discharge of magic was the only color at all to the building. There was a rock golem standing outside with a bow tie and button down suit on. Its beady orange eyes seemed to be staring out at the crowd as they passed. He didn’t move at all, and Kade wondered if maybe it really was just an intimidating stature. 

The doors of the club burst open and a second massive rock golem walked out and threw a black cat it onto the street. This golem was much larger, he was more of a dark gray compared to the lighter colored small golem outside.“Kitty Ban! Kitty out!” the darker golem roared. 

Alistair leaned against the doorframe of his shop and chuckled at the sight. “You can almost set your watch to it.” The black cat jumped up and hissed.

“Listen here you dull clod! I am here simply to partake and sample the finest bosoms your establishment has to offer! I’m simply doing what every other patron does!” He growled. “Kitty leave! Kitty ban!” the golem repeated. The smaller golem began to repeat it as well. 

Kade raised a single eyebrow watching the display. Golems were not the most articulate creatures it seemed. He'd never seen a cat talk before, until now. He got the feeling his life was only going to get even weirder. "Um excuse me?" he said walking over.

The cat hissed at the golem as it began to walk down the street. Elymas looked over at the human. “What do you want human-” he paused for a moment. He raised his own brows curiously. “Human hmmm?”

"Um, yes. I'm trying to find the enforcer exam area, but the fox lady and man with the sharp teeth told me it's across town. They said you might be able to help me sir?" Kade said wondering if he had completely gone insane, asking a small black cat to teleport him. Maybe this was all some strange fever dream and he was in his hotel groaning on the floor from food poisoning?

The cat looked past him to see Alistair and Yuki peeking out of the shop. He narrowed his eyes at them and they disappeared back inside the shop. “Of course. That useless leech.” He grumbled loudly. “Fine. I can get you there. But what’s in it for me?”

"Uh?" Kade said with a shrug. "I have a little bit of cash on me. If you guys even use human currency?"

“Cash? Nah. I don’t need your pathetic human currency.” He said as he swayed his tail back and forth. He smiled, “Tell you what young human, I get you to that exam, and if you become an enforcer you give me 3 IOUs. Anything I need. Anytime. No questions asked.” He said as his tail swayed back and forth a little slower.

Kade frowned. He didn't like the sound of that, but he also did not want to be late for his exam or miss it entirely. This did not seem like the kind of thing a good cop or rathe enforcer would agree to, but what choice did he have? Besides, it was a cat. How much trouble could it really get into? "I...only if no one is getting hurt," Kade said after a few moments thought.

“No. Young human you did not listen to my terms. Anything I need. Anytime. No questions asked,” his voice was hard and firm. He made no moves as he stared down the human

This seemed like an incredibly bad idea. But he also had bills to pay and really wanted this job. "Fine..." Kade mumbled. Surely the cat would just want Kade to look the other way while importing catnip, or maybe he wanted to steal a nice mouse toy? 

The cat held out its paw. “Seal the deal.” He said simply. “But we warned. A deal with a warlock is not one you can easily double cross.” He said firmly.

Kade scoffed at the idea. "I keep my word and my promises," Kade said, feeling this would very much come back to bite him in the ass.

The cat kept his paw out, saying nothing. Was this human so stupid he didn’t know how to shake on an agreement?

Kade tilted his head. It took him far too long to realize the cat was waiting for him to shake its paw. Feeling slightly silly, he took the paw and gave it a little shake, as if it were fragile.

“Such a dainty shake,” the cat said simply causing Kade to blush. It wasn’t dainty! He just didn’t want to hurt his cute little soft paw! Elymas rolled his eyes and hopped up onto Kade’s shoulder. “Hold onto your valuables.” The cat warned as he drew in the air with his claw, the air sizzled as green magic followed where his pay moved as if he were drawing in the air as someone would write on a chalkboard.

He finished making a rune, it looked very similar to a triangle who ran into a few random arrows. “Velox Onerariis,” Elymas said. 

Bright green mist swirled around them. The wind picked up and felt almost painful as it circled them faster and faster. As if he was in the middle of a tornado or something, all around them the town was fading away, going dark and a new set of colors took place of the darkness. Like being on a wild spinning ride at the local state fair.

Then all at once, it stopped, the glowing and the wind. The two had appeared right outside a huge building. The tilted buildings were now gone, replaced by huge downtown upscale shops. They were on the stairs of a building that looked like a massive courthouse. Instead of statues of Lady Justice or eagles, it had gargoyle and alicorns adorning it. 

“Core of the districts. This is known as the Enforcer HQ Alpha location.” Elymas said and jumped off Kade’s shoulder. The building itself looked like a court building with massive pearl colored columns holding up the stone overhang. The column had carvings of many magical creatures and he almost wanted to stick around and admired the artwork. Except he had something a little more pressing. He looked at his watch and ran up the rest of the stairs. This was it, his second exam, he just prayed he was ready.


End file.
